Avoid it yes, Never is a little strong. I pushed for 3 hours until my contraction basically stopped. For me no c-section ever. So they gave me PIT to restart my contractions and a episiotomy so that the baby could get out. He was born with old-man ringlets for pushing against my perineum for so it. It was too strong for him to tear it.

I have no doubt that if those steps weren't taken I would have had a c-section instead. In fact, I heard alot of comments from nurses that they couldn't believe I didn't end up with a c-section.